Luckily, your body possesses numerous specialized cells and proteins that make up the immune system. These immune cells are always on the lookout for different microbes. Using specialized machinery, these cells recognize most microbes and kill them without you feeling any disease symptoms.
Sometimes we encounter a microbe that our immune cells cannot immediately eliminate. With time, our immune system can usually get rid of them, but meanwhile you will feel sick because of the side effects of your immune system’s extra efforts to kill these microbes
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Unfortunately in these cases, Borrelia burgdorferi has not been removed by your immune system, but instead goes into hiding throughout your body. If the infection is identified and treated with antibiotics at this early stage, then it is cleared from your body. But if not treated early, Borrelia burgdorferi can cause disease weeks or months later in almost any part of your body.
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To begin with, these spiral-shaped bacteria use a corkscrew-like motility to bore through our skin and deeper tissues much faster than our immune cells; they are just too fast to catch.
Another trick is that Borrelia burgdorferi can constantly change the types of molecules they put on their surface. By the time our immune cells learn to recognize this microbe, it has already changed its appearance. Imagine if a person keeps wearing a different mask and costume each time you meet him; you would never know his real identity. Borrelia burgdorferi fools our immune system in a similar fashion.
At the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, formerly the Medical College of Ohio, I work in the laboratory of R. Mark Wooten, where we study the different mechanisms Borrelia burgdorferi uses to trick our immune cells.
To better understand Borrelia burgdorferi tricks, we have developed a mutant strain which produces a strong green color that we are able to see while this microbe is inside the skin of infected mice by using an advanced microscopy technique. By this method we can see what this bacterium is doing inside its natural environment and how it evades the immune system.
What have we learned? We know that the immune cells rapidly recognize the bacteria and start to eat them. However, within one day the immune cells no longer recognize the bacteria and just quit chasing them: It is as if they have turned invisible to the immune cells.
We also know that the immune cells also quickly produce a protein called interlukin-10 (IL-10) that is normally only produced after a microbe has been cleared from the body. This IL-10 notifies the immune cells to stop responding since their job is complete.
Putting these facts together, we realized that Borrelia burgdorferi are playing another trick on our immune cells by causing them to believe that their job is complete before they clear Borrelia burgdorferi by somehow triggering this early IL-10 production.
I am trying to identify the source of this early IL-10 response and to determine its negative effect on the different types of immune cells in our body. We are looking for new targets for better treatment of Lyme disease. To do this, we need to better understand this mechanism of evading our immune system.
If we can prevent Borrelia burgdorferi from concealing itself, our immune cells will be able to recognize and eliminate this bacteria efficiently, allowing better management of the disease
http://www.toledoblade.com/Medical/2017/06/05/University-of-Toledo-researchers-aim-to-outsmart-Lyme-disease.html
Sometimes we encounter a microbe that our immune cells cannot immediately eliminate. With time, our immune system can usually get rid of them, but meanwhile you will feel sick because of the side effects of your immune system’s extra efforts to kill these microbes
-----------
Unfortunately in these cases, Borrelia burgdorferi has not been removed by your immune system, but instead goes into hiding throughout your body. If the infection is identified and treated with antibiotics at this early stage, then it is cleared from your body. But if not treated early, Borrelia burgdorferi can cause disease weeks or months later in almost any part of your body.
-----------
To begin with, these spiral-shaped bacteria use a corkscrew-like motility to bore through our skin and deeper tissues much faster than our immune cells; they are just too fast to catch.
Another trick is that Borrelia burgdorferi can constantly change the types of molecules they put on their surface. By the time our immune cells learn to recognize this microbe, it has already changed its appearance. Imagine if a person keeps wearing a different mask and costume each time you meet him; you would never know his real identity. Borrelia burgdorferi fools our immune system in a similar fashion.
At the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, formerly the Medical College of Ohio, I work in the laboratory of R. Mark Wooten, where we study the different mechanisms Borrelia burgdorferi uses to trick our immune cells.
To better understand Borrelia burgdorferi tricks, we have developed a mutant strain which produces a strong green color that we are able to see while this microbe is inside the skin of infected mice by using an advanced microscopy technique. By this method we can see what this bacterium is doing inside its natural environment and how it evades the immune system.
What have we learned? We know that the immune cells rapidly recognize the bacteria and start to eat them. However, within one day the immune cells no longer recognize the bacteria and just quit chasing them: It is as if they have turned invisible to the immune cells.
We also know that the immune cells also quickly produce a protein called interlukin-10 (IL-10) that is normally only produced after a microbe has been cleared from the body. This IL-10 notifies the immune cells to stop responding since their job is complete.
Putting these facts together, we realized that Borrelia burgdorferi are playing another trick on our immune cells by causing them to believe that their job is complete before they clear Borrelia burgdorferi by somehow triggering this early IL-10 production.
I am trying to identify the source of this early IL-10 response and to determine its negative effect on the different types of immune cells in our body. We are looking for new targets for better treatment of Lyme disease. To do this, we need to better understand this mechanism of evading our immune system.
If we can prevent Borrelia burgdorferi from concealing itself, our immune cells will be able to recognize and eliminate this bacteria efficiently, allowing better management of the disease
http://www.toledoblade.com/Medical/2017/06/05/University-of-Toledo-researchers-aim-to-outsmart-Lyme-disease.html
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